How to dress according to your body type

Fashion is meant to be enjoyed and to be updated with new wardrobes every season. We all need to love our bodies just the way they are and highlight our best features based on what we like and what makes us feel good.

How to dress according to your body

Once in the store fitting room, we've all been in the situation of not knowing which outfit is perfect for us. The main trick is knowing how to differentiate between different women's bodies and identifying our own.

1. Rectangular body

The rectangular body shape is characterized by shoulders and hips of similar dimensions and a straight waist, so the goal is to create “false” curves.

A trick that always works is to use belts to create an hourglass figure. To emphasize the waist, you can also add volume to the bust and hips and make linear shapes disappear. For the chest area, you can wear ruffled blouses, oversized crop tops, V-necks to stylize your neck, puffer sleeves, shoulder pads, and anything else that adds volume. For the bottom half, wear high-waisted pants to emphasize the waist, such as cargo pants, boyfriend pants, or straight-leg pants. For shoes, straight or bell-bottom boots are ideal. If you want to wear skirts, avoid skinny skirts, as they will only make you look more rectangular. It's better to choose flared and pleated ones. Finally, the ideal dresses for a rectangular body are layered dresses, empire waist dresses, and fitted under the bust. Remember to use wide belts to frame your waist!

For more examples of how to dress rectangular bodies, you can look at how celebrities like Jennifer Aniston and Cameron Diaz dress.

2. Apple body

Celebrities like Adele and Melissa McCarthy know how to style an apple-shaped body. This body type tends to be round, with a wide torso and prominent chest. The goal is to draw attention away from the midsection and slim the body.

The first thing to keep in mind is that both tight-fitting and oversized garments are unflattering, so it's best to wear flowing, smooth ones. V-necks and short blazers are your best allies for showcasing your bust. Another visual trick is to wear ¾-length sleeves to cover the roundest part of your arms. Remember to avoid boat-necks, rhinestones , and heavy accessories. As for pants, it's best if they're straight or flared, without large pockets. Add high heels or flared boots to elongate the silhouette. Dresses for apple-shaped bodies are straight, loose, or empire waist, but you should never wear wide belts. If you want to wear skirts, they should also be straight, never balloon-shaped. A spectacular advantage of the apple-shaped body type is that they have perfect legs—let them show!

3. Hourglass body

This body type has a balance between the bust and hips, along with a slim waist. The goal is to highlight only one part of the body. Penelope Cruz and Scarlett Johansson are perfect examples.

As a general recommendation, if you have a more proportionate body type, wear clothes that show off your silhouette without going overboard. If you like dresses, both long and short, loose-fitting and fitted at the waist. Remember that a look for an hourglass body shape shouldn't be oversized, although you can opt for loose-fitting t-shirts and blouses or those with round or V-necklines. Don't forget to wear crop tops! They'll flatter your figure 100%. High-waisted pants, skinny jeans, and pencil or tube skirts will also look great on you. Remember that clothes for an hourglass body shape shouldn't be boxy, as that would create a rectangular body effect.

4. Triangular or pear-shaped body

The pear-shaped body type looks great on celebrities like Jennifer Lopez and Alicia Keys. These bodies have more volume in the legs, hips, and buttocks. Therefore, the goal is to conceal the lower body and highlight the upper body.

To start, opting for bright colors and prints on your blouses will be the best idea to emphasize your torso and draw attention away from your legs. Focus on broadening your shoulders with bateau necklines, V-necks, and sweetheart necklines, shoulder pads, and short jackets. For the bottom half, it's best to wear plain garments like loose-fitting basic pants or bell-bottoms to hide the volume of your hips. Be careful not to wear tulip-shaped or balloon skirts, as they will only widen your hips. The best dresses for pear-shaped figures are flared, as they will help achieve our goal.

5. Inverted triangle body

To know how to dress for an inverted triangle body type, just look at Angelina Jolie or Demi Moore. This body type is also called athletic because it has a broad back and shoulders, but slimmer hips and legs. The goal is to conceal the upper body and highlight the hips.

For the torso, it's recommended to wear dark colors with V-necks, rounded, or asymmetrical necklines to make you look slimmer and not draw attention to your shoulders. This way, you should avoid ruffles, shoulder pads, and prints. Contrary to the pear-shaped body, we need to draw attention to the hips. Therefore, we'll wear volume, prints, and brighter colors on the bottom half. We'll avoid tight-fitting clothes and vertical stripes, and instead wear bell-bottom pants, flared trousers, and pleated skirts. For dresses, they should have a flared heel, such as empire waists or long slits that show off the leg. Remember to choose colorful or floral prints and wear good heels to stylize your figure.

Knowing how to dress according to your body shape is important for everyday life. Now that you know how to do it, what are you ready to wear?